I love summer time! I love the weather, I love the smells, I love the sounds, and I love baseball!! For the past two years Ethan has played on a baseball team and this year is no exception. He is gradually getting better and he is learning more at every game. Here are some of the things he has learned about Minor League Baseball:
1) You can call time if and only if you are an in field player or the right fielder.
2) Once you hit the ball you better run as fast as you can
3) Pay attention to the game because if you don't you will get hit in the head with the ball and it hurts.
And 4) Most importantly ALWAYS make sure home plate is cleaned off before you bat.
That's right. In case you didn't know in order to hit the ball with the bat you first must have a cleaned off home plate and a line drawn in the dirt that tells you where you should put your feet. Without those two critical elements, according to Ethan, you will not hit the ball. Now I know that it sounds crazy, but every baseball players has their gimic and that is Ethan's and it has worked for the games that he has been able to play in.
Short story today, but I really wanted to share that bit of knowledge with you because it is so important to know.
I hope that you all have a wonderful day and a great summer!!!
Blessings
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
"Jesus Bless You"
Every morning in my house in hectic. Ethan hates mornings (atleast during the week) as much as I do and we are equally rebellious to get out of our nice comfy beds. But as with everything in life there are changes and this morning was one of them.
Every morning I wake up a minimum of 15 minutes before Ethan so that I am in a happy mood when I go to wake him up. Here's the routine: I go in, turn off his fan, sing the "good morning" song, turn on the lights, and kiss his arm or forehead (which ever I can get to). He mumbles for about 5 minutes and then I go back in and wake him up again. That is our typical routine. Not this morning though. I did everything the same and much to my suprise he got right out of bed and was in a wonderful mood! LOVE IT!!!! He got dressed without being asked more than once, was smiling and happy all morning and everything. Thank you God for great mornings.
It gets better though. As Ethan was walking out the door this morning to catch the bus he did the sweetest thing ever. He closed the door and not even a second later reopened it and said, "Mommy, Jesus bless you today." It was at that moment in time that I thought about the fact that no matter how hectic life gets and how rough or simple a morning is there are always blessings, daily blessings, in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. So this morning, or whenever you read this, my prayer for you is that your morning and day will find blessings and peace.
Love and Blessings to you all!!!
Every morning I wake up a minimum of 15 minutes before Ethan so that I am in a happy mood when I go to wake him up. Here's the routine: I go in, turn off his fan, sing the "good morning" song, turn on the lights, and kiss his arm or forehead (which ever I can get to). He mumbles for about 5 minutes and then I go back in and wake him up again. That is our typical routine. Not this morning though. I did everything the same and much to my suprise he got right out of bed and was in a wonderful mood! LOVE IT!!!! He got dressed without being asked more than once, was smiling and happy all morning and everything. Thank you God for great mornings.
It gets better though. As Ethan was walking out the door this morning to catch the bus he did the sweetest thing ever. He closed the door and not even a second later reopened it and said, "Mommy, Jesus bless you today." It was at that moment in time that I thought about the fact that no matter how hectic life gets and how rough or simple a morning is there are always blessings, daily blessings, in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. So this morning, or whenever you read this, my prayer for you is that your morning and day will find blessings and peace.
Love and Blessings to you all!!!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Remembering the Simple Moments
My life has been anything but calm lately and I have been working extra hard on keeping things in perspective. Although it's not always easy and sometimes I feel all alone, there are more often than not times that I can clearly see God in my life and my thoughts get put back in perspective. Now don't get me wrong...my reminders often come in the form of a text message or a call from a wonderful friend or a hug from my son or an "I love you" from my husband. Tonight however, my reminder came in the form of a something that I have only seen one other time in my 28 years of life. Tonight, there was a snowflake that was placed on my windshield by the hand of God and put just in my line of sight so that I could see the simplicity of it. I know it sounds crazy since there has been a lot of snow lately, but I have only seen a single snowflake one other time in my life and that was only a couple of weeks ago.
Have you ever seen a single snowflake? It reminds me of the uniqueness that every person holds in their life and that although we are all the same in the fact that we are all loved by God and that we are all humans we are also all different in the way that we act and that no one is exactly the same as another person. Even identical twins...despite what science says, has something that is different about them. It's like what Mr. Rodgers said in the beginning and end of every one of his shows, "It's you I like. There's nobody else like you." I never thought about the impact and power of that statement until just recently. It's refreshing and nice to know that the amount of detail that has been put into a single snowflake has been put into me.
Although there are days that I struggle in my life there are days that I wouldn't change my life for the world. So remember that when your life gets rough and rocks seem to be like boulders there are the simple things in life that can pick you back up again and get you going. Remember that as much detail and simplicity is put into one snowflake twice as much has been put into you.
Love and Blessings to you all.
Have you ever seen a single snowflake? It reminds me of the uniqueness that every person holds in their life and that although we are all the same in the fact that we are all loved by God and that we are all humans we are also all different in the way that we act and that no one is exactly the same as another person. Even identical twins...despite what science says, has something that is different about them. It's like what Mr. Rodgers said in the beginning and end of every one of his shows, "It's you I like. There's nobody else like you." I never thought about the impact and power of that statement until just recently. It's refreshing and nice to know that the amount of detail that has been put into a single snowflake has been put into me.
Although there are days that I struggle in my life there are days that I wouldn't change my life for the world. So remember that when your life gets rough and rocks seem to be like boulders there are the simple things in life that can pick you back up again and get you going. Remember that as much detail and simplicity is put into one snowflake twice as much has been put into you.
Love and Blessings to you all.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Joy holds more than Frustration
Yesterday had to be the most frustrating day I've had in a long time and yet yesterday also brought me an amazing amount of joy. Of course when there is both frustration and joy in the same day the big question is which one will you let hold more ground in your life. Yesterday, I chose to let joy hold more ground than frustration.
Here's what happen though that made frustration be included in my day. Yesterday I had an SEA, Student Education Association, meeting that I was supposed to lead and we were having pizza for everyone that showed up. Well, 30 minutes before the meeting started I went to get the pizzas from Papa Johns and the pizzas aren't there. The guy behind the counter, which was being a complete butt, told me that the pizzas were being delivered to my house. I looked at him at in my sarcasm said, "are you serious?" I couldn't help it, the order was for 6 pizzas and I just ordered them the night before with the same guy!!! So, after we finally hunted down the pizzas, got to the school, and waited for the meeting to start I became more frustrated because...OMG...only 2 people came to the meeting...UGH!!! Although at that moment in time I was even more frustrated, because a lot of planning had gone into the meeting I am glad that no one showed up because I really wasn't in the mood anyway. Good thing there is always the same meeting on Tuesdays. :-) Well, that was the frustrating moment. Now here's to the moment of joy that held the ground in my day.
Yesterday I was my first day in the SMART program at Mt. Tabor. SMART is a reading program for first graders that have fallen behind in their reading and need some help to catch up. OMG...it was wonderful! I have these two little girls that are just so precious and when they get a word right and your face lights up with joy, their faces light up with excitement that they were able to read the word to you! The whole thing lasted only an hour, but that hour completely changed my day and made it a wonderful day. I am so glad that I am blessed enough to go back next Monday and do it all again.
May you all find your joys hold more ground than your frustrations and my your frustrations be minimal.
Blessings and Peace!
Here's what happen though that made frustration be included in my day. Yesterday I had an SEA, Student Education Association, meeting that I was supposed to lead and we were having pizza for everyone that showed up. Well, 30 minutes before the meeting started I went to get the pizzas from Papa Johns and the pizzas aren't there. The guy behind the counter, which was being a complete butt, told me that the pizzas were being delivered to my house. I looked at him at in my sarcasm said, "are you serious?" I couldn't help it, the order was for 6 pizzas and I just ordered them the night before with the same guy!!! So, after we finally hunted down the pizzas, got to the school, and waited for the meeting to start I became more frustrated because...OMG...only 2 people came to the meeting...UGH!!! Although at that moment in time I was even more frustrated, because a lot of planning had gone into the meeting I am glad that no one showed up because I really wasn't in the mood anyway. Good thing there is always the same meeting on Tuesdays. :-) Well, that was the frustrating moment. Now here's to the moment of joy that held the ground in my day.
Yesterday I was my first day in the SMART program at Mt. Tabor. SMART is a reading program for first graders that have fallen behind in their reading and need some help to catch up. OMG...it was wonderful! I have these two little girls that are just so precious and when they get a word right and your face lights up with joy, their faces light up with excitement that they were able to read the word to you! The whole thing lasted only an hour, but that hour completely changed my day and made it a wonderful day. I am so glad that I am blessed enough to go back next Monday and do it all again.
May you all find your joys hold more ground than your frustrations and my your frustrations be minimal.
Blessings and Peace!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Keeping Life in Perspective
Lets be honest with each other. There are days that it's just plain hard to have a good day and to be in a good mood and lately I have had several of those days.
Well, just the other day I was talking to a great friend of mine, Judy, and here is what she told me, after a good length conversation, "I get that you feel sucky and are tired of it (really I do get feeling sucky!! Lol), but lots of good stuff has happened to. So try to put it in perspective." I then realized I need to work on keeping my happy moments happy and my not so happy moments, well, out of my life or at least to a minimum.
So, keeping things in perspective, today was wonderful! Really...today was wonderful!!! I woke up this morning to a little boy that was so happy to see me that he ran and gave me a huge hug! Then we went to church where I was reminded today that God always walks by my side and has made ME a fisher of men. Can you believe it? God has called me, yes me, to go and preach and teach to the people of the world, or at least of my neighborhood. After church I got to eat lunch with the best Mamaw in the world and my little man and of course visited after lunch. Oh and did I mention that I got to see all the residents of where I used to work and man were they all so happy to see me and I was so happy to see them. It made me remember why I loved working there so much, but at the same time reminded me how much I miss it there and how badly I at least want to work one weekend a month, or heck, even one day a month.
Anyway...back on track. I ended my day with a wonderful mother/son dinner at McCalisters Deli with a great potato and wonderful company with Ethan. About half way through dinner Ethan, out of nowhere, tells me to look at his queso dip and there he has taken a minute and made a heart in the queso and tells me, "mom I love you." Oh how that made my day and days to come.
I have learned this week that it is so important to keep things in perspective and that although everyday won't be perfect there are days that will be perfect and for those days I must remember that I am blessed and that I can be a blessing.
Love and blessings to you all!!!
Well, just the other day I was talking to a great friend of mine, Judy, and here is what she told me, after a good length conversation, "I get that you feel sucky and are tired of it (really I do get feeling sucky!! Lol), but lots of good stuff has happened to. So try to put it in perspective." I then realized I need to work on keeping my happy moments happy and my not so happy moments, well, out of my life or at least to a minimum.
So, keeping things in perspective, today was wonderful! Really...today was wonderful!!! I woke up this morning to a little boy that was so happy to see me that he ran and gave me a huge hug! Then we went to church where I was reminded today that God always walks by my side and has made ME a fisher of men. Can you believe it? God has called me, yes me, to go and preach and teach to the people of the world, or at least of my neighborhood. After church I got to eat lunch with the best Mamaw in the world and my little man and of course visited after lunch. Oh and did I mention that I got to see all the residents of where I used to work and man were they all so happy to see me and I was so happy to see them. It made me remember why I loved working there so much, but at the same time reminded me how much I miss it there and how badly I at least want to work one weekend a month, or heck, even one day a month.
Anyway...back on track. I ended my day with a wonderful mother/son dinner at McCalisters Deli with a great potato and wonderful company with Ethan. About half way through dinner Ethan, out of nowhere, tells me to look at his queso dip and there he has taken a minute and made a heart in the queso and tells me, "mom I love you." Oh how that made my day and days to come.
I have learned this week that it is so important to keep things in perspective and that although everyday won't be perfect there are days that will be perfect and for those days I must remember that I am blessed and that I can be a blessing.
Love and blessings to you all!!!
Friday, January 21, 2011
The Innocence of a Child
I LOVE SNOW DAYS!!!! Today has truly been a day of laughs, giggles, hugs, smiles, kisses, fun, and love.
This morning I was laying in bed, knowing that Ethan didn't have school, and all of a sudden Ethan comes running in the bedroom, in his underwear and with a blanket tied around his neck, singing "Super Ethan coming to snuggle with mommy!" As he leaps into the air and onto my bed he says, "I brought you a heart mom, it says You Rock!" I couldn't help but to laugh at the sight of him running in the room with a blanket as a cape and singing his song. Then when he jumped on the bed and said what he did I couldn't help but to smile at how precious and geniun he is. I couldn't ask for a better way to wake up than like that.
Later on in the morning Ethan was starting to get bored and randomly walked over to our Christmas tree, yes, we still have our tree up, and he starts to look for Easter Eggs. Naturally I looked at him and asked what he was doing and he looked at me and said, "Duh mom. I'm looking for Easter Eggs. Have you seen any?" LOL I reminded him Easter wasn't until April this year and his response was, "But mom if Jesus is alive then Easter has already happened." Oh the innocence of a child.
As our day progressed the laughter and random comments of humor continued from Ethan. I have to tell you that I 100% love snow days and had a great day today with my little family. And the blessings continued as I am now being blessed with my nephew sleeping over and the boys playing in a wonderful way with eachother. :)
May you blessed and may you find the Innocence of a Child in your day.
Blessings
This morning I was laying in bed, knowing that Ethan didn't have school, and all of a sudden Ethan comes running in the bedroom, in his underwear and with a blanket tied around his neck, singing "Super Ethan coming to snuggle with mommy!" As he leaps into the air and onto my bed he says, "I brought you a heart mom, it says You Rock!" I couldn't help but to laugh at the sight of him running in the room with a blanket as a cape and singing his song. Then when he jumped on the bed and said what he did I couldn't help but to smile at how precious and geniun he is. I couldn't ask for a better way to wake up than like that.
Later on in the morning Ethan was starting to get bored and randomly walked over to our Christmas tree, yes, we still have our tree up, and he starts to look for Easter Eggs. Naturally I looked at him and asked what he was doing and he looked at me and said, "Duh mom. I'm looking for Easter Eggs. Have you seen any?" LOL I reminded him Easter wasn't until April this year and his response was, "But mom if Jesus is alive then Easter has already happened." Oh the innocence of a child.
As our day progressed the laughter and random comments of humor continued from Ethan. I have to tell you that I 100% love snow days and had a great day today with my little family. And the blessings continued as I am now being blessed with my nephew sleeping over and the boys playing in a wonderful way with eachother. :)
May you blessed and may you find the Innocence of a Child in your day.
Blessings
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Anything But Typical
You have to love the mind, honesty, and heart of an 8yr old boy. My son, Ethan, means the world to me and his honesty is unreal, his mind thinks above that of an average 8yr old, and I swear his heart is made of gold. My son is anything but typical.
As we were riding in the car a couple days ago listening to Christian radio my son speaks up and says something that blew my mind away and made me a very proud mom and made the rest of my day anything but typical. While driving on the way to take Ethan to school he looks up from reading his book and tells me that he wants to adopt a child from Hatti through Compassion International. My heart became overjoyed. But that wasn't all he said. When I asked him how he was planning on paying for the child, at the cost of $38 a month, he looked at me and said, "mom those kids need help more than I do, so I will earn the money. I will do whatever I have to do to earn the money for the kids." Oh my heart became even more filled with joy as I heard the words roll of his tongue. He truly spoke his mind and heart clearer than he has in a long while and he knew what he wanted and there was no way to say no to him.
Well, when he made his decision I was so happy and proud that I posted it on Facebook and wow the impact my one son made. When I posted what he said and what we were doing my sister then decided that she wanted to help us sponsor a child. Then there was a text message conversation between our preacher and me about the church adopting a child. And finally, to make it all the more worth wild, I received 3 inbox messages on facebook from friends that had told me that because of Ethan's story and heart they were going to sponsor a child. So because of Ethan's honesty, mind, and heart of gold, Ethan's one child being sponsored turned into 5 children being sponsored. When I told Ethan that day after school what all had happened his face smiled so large and he was so happy for what all had happened that he turned to me and said, "Mom small kids really can change the world and make a difference." Oh he's so precious and his innocence is so pure and true.
Ethan is deffinately a child that is Anything But Typical.
I hope that in your day today you will find a moment that is anyhing but typical and that you find peace and joy in all that you do and what you see and say.
As we were riding in the car a couple days ago listening to Christian radio my son speaks up and says something that blew my mind away and made me a very proud mom and made the rest of my day anything but typical. While driving on the way to take Ethan to school he looks up from reading his book and tells me that he wants to adopt a child from Hatti through Compassion International. My heart became overjoyed. But that wasn't all he said. When I asked him how he was planning on paying for the child, at the cost of $38 a month, he looked at me and said, "mom those kids need help more than I do, so I will earn the money. I will do whatever I have to do to earn the money for the kids." Oh my heart became even more filled with joy as I heard the words roll of his tongue. He truly spoke his mind and heart clearer than he has in a long while and he knew what he wanted and there was no way to say no to him.
Well, when he made his decision I was so happy and proud that I posted it on Facebook and wow the impact my one son made. When I posted what he said and what we were doing my sister then decided that she wanted to help us sponsor a child. Then there was a text message conversation between our preacher and me about the church adopting a child. And finally, to make it all the more worth wild, I received 3 inbox messages on facebook from friends that had told me that because of Ethan's story and heart they were going to sponsor a child. So because of Ethan's honesty, mind, and heart of gold, Ethan's one child being sponsored turned into 5 children being sponsored. When I told Ethan that day after school what all had happened his face smiled so large and he was so happy for what all had happened that he turned to me and said, "Mom small kids really can change the world and make a difference." Oh he's so precious and his innocence is so pure and true.
Ethan is deffinately a child that is Anything But Typical.
I hope that in your day today you will find a moment that is anyhing but typical and that you find peace and joy in all that you do and what you see and say.
This is Gendel, Ethan's new friend in Hatti. Gendel's dob is 09/05/02
Blessings!!!
Monday, January 17, 2011
I can't help it that she's a blessing!
No matter how much time passes there will always be a small piece of your heart that belongs to your first love. Not always a large small part, but there will at least be a small small part that belongs to him and when there is a child involved you never have the chance to get 100% over him because you are in touch with him all the time because of your child.
So what happens when your first love gets married? Most people say you are supposed to hate the other parents significant other, but in my life it's different. I can't help it and I know that people think I'm crazy, but I care for my son's step-mom.
Marissa came into my son's life when he was 6 and since the first day she met Ethan she has been nothing but supportive of him and loving to him. Now don't get me wrong, when I first met her I didn't care a lick for her and she didn't do anything wrong. It's just that she not only was marrying my first love, despite the fact that I am over him, but she was also going to be the step-mom to my son and omg...if she ever tried to take my place all hell would brake loose.
But man did I miss judge her and even though people think I am crazy I can't help but to care for her and to say that Marissa is truely a blessing to me, my son, and his dad. I mean really...she is a blessing to our entire family. We are definitely not the typical family. I'm married now to the love of my life, Ethan's dad is married to the love of his life, and Ethan has the best of two fabulous families. We all care for one another and we all have put Ethan in the center of our family to form one big happy family. It's not often that step-parents get the love and support that Ethan's get and it's not often that you will find that both parents of the child get along as well as we do.
Marissa dropped Ethan off to me this morning and in the midst of our conversation about how great Ethan is and how much he has improved in the last couple of weeks she said the most perfect thing to me. She said, "I know it's hard to raise Ethan and I want you to know that I don't want you to think I am stepping on your toes, but that I care for Ethan so much. I also want you to know that if you ever need me for anything I am always here." Seriously...that is not something that you typically hear from a step-parent and the fact that I know that she meant it in the most sincere and genuine sense made me cry.
I love knowing that if I ever need anything I can count on Marissa and call her at the drop of a dime. I love knowing that no matter what life throws at us, as Ethan's parents, we will all pull together to do what is best for him. I love knowing that there is such a respect and comfort level between the 4 of us that we will always be open and able to talk to each other and hear what the other person is saying even if we don't always agree. I love knowing that we will always be one big happy family and I love knowing that God loves me so much that He blessed me with my husband, my son, his dad, and his step-mom.
Thank you God for blessing me with the best step-parents ever for Ethan and for blessing me with the best dad for Ethan.
I know you all still probably think I'm crazy for caring so much for Ethan's dad and for his step-mom, but man if you were in my shoes you would feel blessed too and you would love the family Ethan has too.
If you have a child in a split parent home I hope that you are as blessed as I am to get a step-parent that you care as much for as I do.
Blessings and Peace to you!!!!
Ethan and all his parents!! Andrew, Ethan, me, David, and Marissa! Ethan couldn't be more loved.
So what happens when your first love gets married? Most people say you are supposed to hate the other parents significant other, but in my life it's different. I can't help it and I know that people think I'm crazy, but I care for my son's step-mom.
Marissa came into my son's life when he was 6 and since the first day she met Ethan she has been nothing but supportive of him and loving to him. Now don't get me wrong, when I first met her I didn't care a lick for her and she didn't do anything wrong. It's just that she not only was marrying my first love, despite the fact that I am over him, but she was also going to be the step-mom to my son and omg...if she ever tried to take my place all hell would brake loose.
But man did I miss judge her and even though people think I am crazy I can't help but to care for her and to say that Marissa is truely a blessing to me, my son, and his dad. I mean really...she is a blessing to our entire family. We are definitely not the typical family. I'm married now to the love of my life, Ethan's dad is married to the love of his life, and Ethan has the best of two fabulous families. We all care for one another and we all have put Ethan in the center of our family to form one big happy family. It's not often that step-parents get the love and support that Ethan's get and it's not often that you will find that both parents of the child get along as well as we do.
Marissa dropped Ethan off to me this morning and in the midst of our conversation about how great Ethan is and how much he has improved in the last couple of weeks she said the most perfect thing to me. She said, "I know it's hard to raise Ethan and I want you to know that I don't want you to think I am stepping on your toes, but that I care for Ethan so much. I also want you to know that if you ever need me for anything I am always here." Seriously...that is not something that you typically hear from a step-parent and the fact that I know that she meant it in the most sincere and genuine sense made me cry.
I love knowing that if I ever need anything I can count on Marissa and call her at the drop of a dime. I love knowing that no matter what life throws at us, as Ethan's parents, we will all pull together to do what is best for him. I love knowing that there is such a respect and comfort level between the 4 of us that we will always be open and able to talk to each other and hear what the other person is saying even if we don't always agree. I love knowing that we will always be one big happy family and I love knowing that God loves me so much that He blessed me with my husband, my son, his dad, and his step-mom.
Thank you God for blessing me with the best step-parents ever for Ethan and for blessing me with the best dad for Ethan.
I know you all still probably think I'm crazy for caring so much for Ethan's dad and for his step-mom, but man if you were in my shoes you would feel blessed too and you would love the family Ethan has too.
If you have a child in a split parent home I hope that you are as blessed as I am to get a step-parent that you care as much for as I do.
Blessings and Peace to you!!!!
Here we go!!
Okay...So, I haven't blogged since I had to for school a long time ago, but I decided that since it's a new year and I am really turning over a new leaf, why not blog and keep people up to date on what's going on in the lives of David, Ethan, and me. Bloggging daily might not happen, but I will try to blog at least once a week.
Here is my only warning though as I blog. I am not a perfect speller and sometimes my grammer may be off and I love to go on random off topic subjects, but I will eventually get back to what I was talking about.
Well, I hope you enjoy reading my blog and following my life as I raise my son, go to school full time, work some, and "live, laugh, and love life" and sometimes I might lose it. lol
Love to you all!!!
Scarlet
Here is my only warning though as I blog. I am not a perfect speller and sometimes my grammer may be off and I love to go on random off topic subjects, but I will eventually get back to what I was talking about.
Well, I hope you enjoy reading my blog and following my life as I raise my son, go to school full time, work some, and "live, laugh, and love life" and sometimes I might lose it. lol
Love to you all!!!
Scarlet
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